


Sometimes the Best Things Come When You Wait

by CosmoKid



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, Bucky is an idiot, Clint Is a Good Bro, Fluff, Kinda, M/M, Natasha Is a Good Bro, Post-Serum Steve Rogers, Texting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-23
Updated: 2017-02-23
Packaged: 2018-09-26 12:13:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9896009
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CosmoKid/pseuds/CosmoKid
Summary: Sometimes the best things come when you wait, other times, you spend six months staring lovingly at your co-worker and pine for him just to find out he was definitely gay and very gay for you.In summary, Bucky Barnes is a lovestruck idiot





	

Bucky Barnes was certain that the universe hated him. 

Business at Starbucks was never slow, it was Starbucks! There were always people who wanted Starbucks, even after the whole ‘war on Christmas’ thing. Yet today, apparently no one wanted Starbucks. Normally he didn’t mind business being slow, it was less work and he could just play some games on his phone and send stupid selfies to Nat to annoy her, but today was different. 

The first problem he had was that the only customer in the shop was Nat who would probably straight up murder him if he tried to annoy her while she was doing her final write up for her Criminal Psychology class. Also, he was on shift with Steve Rogers who he’d had a crush on for at least six months and he also had the whole ‘it’s exam season and I don’t give a shit, but I still look cute’ look thing going on and Bucky was certain he was about to die and repeating _don’t think about the beard burn_ in his head over and over again wasn’t helping.

It also didn’t help that he was sleep-deprived and practically high on caffeine for all the coffee he’d been drinking for the past seventy-two hours. Additionally, his entire brain was nothing, but quantum physics and random Russian from his exam work and he was just ready to keel over and die. 

He’d resolved by just muttering ‘random Russian’ under his breath to ‘help with his studying’ (spoiler, he was actually professing his love for Steve and a bunch of other sweet nothings as well as planning their first date) which Steve kept giggling at. He assumed it was due to his Russian accent sounding like an angry German person or that he kept stumbling over one word. He couldn’t say _днем_ to save his life which was irritating considering it meant he couldn’t talk about things that happened in the afternoon. He still had no idea why he decided to study Russian and quantum physics.

“James?” Bucky’s head jumped up at Nat’s voice, the name sounding foreign from her lips, “I… uh, need some help with my order.” 

She was up to something, he could just tell from the tone of her voice. That was not good. If Nat was up to something, Bucky was screwed.

“Coming?” His face screwed up as he tried to be professional, aware that Steve didn’t know he actually knew Nat and she was just a random customer to him and she was meant to be to Bucky as well. His head was spinning so he just sent her a panicked look which just led to her smirking playfully at him. 

He readjusted his hat as he arrived at the table, “What seems to be the problem, ma’am?” Might as well keep up the appearance since he didn’t know what her plan was.

“Don’t call me ma’am,” she scowled immediately, glaring at him nicely, “Did you just ask him out? In Russian?” she questioned, in Russian. He blinked, staring back at her for at least a minute while he tried to understand what she was saying. He really wasn’t that good at Russian.

He forgot that Nat spoke Russian and had just heard him profess his love for Steve and also heard him ask Steve out in Russian. At least she’d never hear him do it English since Bucky definitely wouldn’t be able to do that unless he was completely drunk and probably high as well.

“Yes?” he tried in Russian, his voice lowering in volume, but raising at least two octaves, “Not seriously?” he added in a panicked whisper, completely forgetting that Steve didn’t speak Russian and couldn’t understand what they were saying.

Granted, saying that you only have a little, not too serious crush on someone isn’t really better than just saying that you have a crush, but Steve didn’t speak Russian so it really didn’t matter.

Nat beamed at him with a bright smile before continuing to speak, still in Russian, “You like him!” she exclaimed, clapping excitedly. She probably forgot that they were meant to be speaking about the order which meant Bucky just had to shrug apologetically at Steve after he was shot a confused look. The universe definitely hated him.

At least Steve didn’t speak Russian and didn’t understand that she’d just announced that he did indeed have a crush on his colleague. Maybe the universe hated him a little less.

“Please, just stop,” he groaned, staring at her pleadingly as he probably messed up the Russian as shown by her flinch at his attempt. He really wanted the universe to swallow him up right now, he was embarrassing himself in front of his crush, accidentally told his most manipulative friend about said crush and was ready to fuck up his Russian exam.

He also really wanted Nat to stop, but now that he’d asked, she probably wasn’t going to.

“You should tell him!” Bucky just stared at her in response, focussing completely on resisting the urge to respond sarcastically in English since he probably couldn’t sound sarcastic in Russian if he could actually speak the language competently (which he couldn’t since it still took him a long time to understand her Russian and she was speaking slowly), but she was literally insane if she thought he could just tell his very straight colleague that he liked him. “He likes you! Just look at the way he looks at you,” she added while he continued to gape at her, this time because he really wasn’t good enough at Russian for it.

“For God’s sake!” she scowled at his confusion, “He likes you! Just look at how he looks at you!” she added in a hushed whisper while he continued, again, to just stare at her. At least she’d swapped back to English.

“Bullshit.” It wasn’t exactly professional, but it really summed up his feelings about the idea. It was also probably a bad idea considering he was talking to the most intelligent person he knew who immediately got a mischievous glint in her eyes. The latter part of his statement was how he felt straight afterward.

“Um Sir,” she called out immediately, smirking at his panic.

“Yes?” Steve looked up from his book, his glasses sliding to the bottom of his nose. Bucky forgot how adorable Steve looked with his glasses. Damn it, why did he have to look so cute all the time?

“I feel that your co-worker is being a little unprofessional.” What was she up to? It took all of his self-control not to start crying.

“Oh,” Steve paused to look expectantly at Bucky who just glanced away hoping he didn’t look too desperate, “In what ways?” he finally asked, looking back at Nat, completely oblivious to the ammunition he’d just given her. The universe hated Bucky, there was no other way around it.

“Swearing, conversing in what is probably the wrong language for the store, and not tying his apron fully.” Bucky was too busy waiting for the pin to drop, to even notice her comment about his untied apron which was probably true. “Staring lovingly at a co-worker and asking him out in Russian? Is that unprofessional?” There it was. 

He was waiting for Steve to respond, but he just continued to stare at Bucky in confusion and probably anger. Bucky wouldn’t blame him if he was angry since it was kinda creepy. Bucky, in contrast, spluttered some gibberish including about nine apologies, seven statements declaring hatred for Nat and a somewhat comprehensive announcement of leaving to get some air and stormed off like a sulky teenager, letting the door hit him on the way out. 

He didn’t really know how to salvage the situation, maybe he could quit his job and just avoid Steve except that he really needed the money and if he quit his job, he’d probably get a really shitty reference and he really didn’t need that in his life. Maybe he could just quit his life and become a hermit in Russia who doesn’t communicate because he doesn’t want to not because his Russian is bad. Okay, maybe that was a little bit extreme, but there was something truly humiliating when you get a crush on a straight person. Most of the time it wasn’t even malicious, it was just their reaction. They didn’t mean to be insulting, they just didn’t understand that saying that they didn’t seem gay is kinda stereotyping and really fucking annoying.

Steve probably wouldn’t even be like that, he’d be an actually good straight ally and that would suck even more because Bucky wouldn’t be able to just hate him, damn it.  
He shook his head, sighing. He really didn’t want to think about this right now, it was making his anxiety at least fifty times worse. Normally, he’d have a cigarette now, but he’d promised Nat that he’d stop plus Steve had mentioned he didn’t like the smell of cigarettes. Fuck, this crush was really getting out of control.

He hung his head, trying to get the sun out of his eye before fumbling for his phone in his pocket. Maybe he could distract himself by irritating Clint instead. That normally worked.

_So how would you feel about joining me as a hermit in the Alps?_

_**As fun as tht sounds, im in clss so this bttr be important** _

_well in that case, i’ll wait til later to tell you_

_**im already invested asshole, tell me wtf is going on** _

Bucky snorted out loud at how easy it was to manipulate Clint which got a few weird looks from the people around him, but he didn’t really have any fucks left to give. He was distracted from the whole Steve thing and that was a positive thing that he was not letting go of.

Plus, it was pretty funny to manipulate Clint like that.

_Turns out it’s not a good idea to secretly ask someone out in Russian when Nat’s there_

_**u forgt Nat speaks Russian?** _

_**ur such an idoit barnes** _

_*idiot_

_**dont correct my gramar like ur so smart barnes, you forgot your russian tutor speaks russian** _

He didn’t mean to burst out laughing, but he did. When Clint put it that way, Bucky was actually an idiot. How could he forget that Nat spoke Russian when she’s literally the one who’s been coaching him through his course? Probably because he was distracted by Steve.

Yeah, he was definitely distracted by Steve.

_**wait** _

_**who wasnt meant to be in on the secret** _

_**u dont have any friends except me and nat, who were you asking out in secret** _

_remind me why im friends w/ you_

_**because ur a lonely hermit with dreams of moving to the alps and im nce to u** _

Well, he couldn’t say he didn’t walk into that one.

_okay fine_

_**well** _

_**who is it** _

_whos what?_

_**whos your secret russian spy ur askin out** _

_steve_

_**ur cute colleague dude?** _

_**i ddnt know he spoke russian** _

_he doesnt_

_i wasn’t actually asking him out_

_**wtf were you doing then** _

He didn’t really have a good answer for that. Practicing? He didn’t really know what the fuck he was doing, just being a lonely hermit with a crush on a straight guy maybe?

_idk_

_pretending i was in a teen movie and it would all be a happy ending and shit_

_**im assuming it ddnt go well** _

_**wat happened** _

_you sound excited about my traumatic experience_

_**oh stfu you drama queen** _

_**ive been in chemistry fr 3 hours and im bored and tired** _

_**i neeeeeeeeeeeeeed entertainment** _

_i love how your enjoying my suffering_

_**im w8ing** _

_please learn how to type_

_nat overheard me “asking steve out” and pretty much ordered me to ask him out cos apparently he likes me too and when i said no, she decided to tell him what i was saying in Russian. Apparently it’s not very professional_

Bucky physically cringed at the very recent memory, a shiver going down his back. He had an overwhelming urge to hit himself, why was he so stupid? 

_**dick move** _

_**kind of** _

_**i mean** _

_**shes nt wrong** _

_don’t event try to call me unprofessional, you came to work with four dogs once_

_**whats wrong with that?** _

_You work at McDonalds Clint._

_**stfu** _

_**anyway, i wsnt talking about the unprofessional thing** _

_**but shes not wrong about that either** _

_ur just in love with her_

_u <3 her_

_**were not tlking about my love life rn** _

_then what are we talking about?_

_**the fact that u and stve r both morons and blind** _

_**i could rite an essay abt ur lv fr ech other** _

_please learn how to type_

_**stfu** _

_**how have you not noticed how much he likes you tho** _

_**like his eyes fllw u arnd the room** _

_**and he laughs at all ur stupid jokes tht rnt funny at all** _

_fuck you_

_**say that to steve instead** _ ****

**_**trst me buck, u ddnt see how he looked at u whn u wore those tight jeans to work** _ **

_why would you even notice that?_

**_**idk** _ **

**_**but the point is that he rlly wnts 2 fuck u on one of the tables and u prbbly wnt it 2** _ **

_that sounds unprofessional_

_also gross_

**_**whtever, he likes u and u like him, go kiss in the rain or whtever** _ **

_why would i kiss him in the rain? that just sounds wet and uncomfortable_

_**i hpe u relize how much of an inuendo tht ws** _

_Please Clint, learn how to type._

_**stfu** _

_**go kiss stevie. tell him u wont quit hm or whtever** _

_youre so uncultured with gay movies clint, i dont think we can be friends anymore_

_**whtever barnes u have no othr friends u need me** _

_**and stewe** _

_***steve** _

_**and i need 2 focus, i stll cant do titration and wre dng it now so bye felicia** _

_thanks?_

_**ur welcome :P** _

He swore that Clint was the only person who still used the ‘:P’ rather than just using the emoji. He also typed out ‘lol’ so he was clearly stuck in 2009. 

Bucky took a deep breath, realizing that his boss sometimes looked at the CCTV and he’d took longer than five minutes for his break so he probably had to go back in so he wouldn’t get fired. He really didn’t want to, though. Maybe he should just move to the Alps and become a hermit. It sounded like a better idea than going in to deal with that shit.  
He debated texting Nat to see if she’d tell him how Steve had reacted, but she’d probably just call him an idiot and tell him to get back inside. He still didn’t want to. 

As if the universe hated him a little more, it started raining. So he could either stand outside in the rain or go inside and probably cry. This was literally turning into the plot of a John Hughes movie. Apart from the fact that it wasn’t about straight people, well it was, Steve was straight. Maybe Nat and Steve would fall in love.

He sighed, deciding that he should send Nat a text to see if she was feeling remotely human today.

_nat whats going on does he hate me_

He hadn’t expected to get nothing but the wink emoji in return, but he should have. That was such a Nat thing to do. Frustrated, he leaned back on the wall, shoving his phone in his pocket. He had no one else to text and no other way to distract himself other than playing Candy Crush on his phone and he had no lives left anyway because he’d used them all up when he took a ‘break from studying’. He hadn’t really been studying anyway so it was more of a ‘break from pretending to be studying’.

Sighing, he pushed himself against the wall, much to the confusion to most of the people around him since he’d now stormed out of a coffee shop, giggled to himself while texting, angrily leaned against a wall and then pushed himself off the wall angrily about three seconds later. He didn’t know what to do, he was completely lost. He didn’t want to deal with his crush problem, but he also knew that he had to. He couldn’t just stand out there forever and wait for the world to come to him. So what if Steve was straight, they’d probably be able to just be friends and not awkward and Bucky wouldn’t be that heartbroken. 

Only a little, kind of. He’d only cry for a day max, maybe two or three. Okay, maybe this was a bit more than a crush. Fuck.

He was about to cry. Fuck, the universe actually hated him. Of fucking course, he’d realize that he’s in fucking love with his co-worker just after he’d accidentally told him about the crush because of his stupid Russian thing. Fuck his life.

Taking his phone out of his pocket again, he fumbled trying to text Nat, the raindrops and maybe his tears making it difficult to see the screen. Everything felt like it was falling apart because of a stupid thing he’d done.

_Please Nat. Im seriously fucking paniciking hre._  
_At laest tell me i didnt fuck up tht bad_  
_Nat please. Tell me i didnt upset steve at least_  
_Naaaat_

He groaned as quietly as he could, cursing Nat under his breath. He reasoned that if he had fucked up that bad, she’d take pity on him and tell him that Steve was super angry or something. He wasn’t completely certain she’d do it, but he had an inkling that she actually was a really nice person under her icy persona and ‘I’m better than you’ attitude. The attitude was completely true, but he wasn’t planning on giving her that leverage.

Taking a deep breath, he focused on calming his heart rate and controlling his breathing. He wouldn’t be able to do anything useful if he was just panicking and not thinking clearly. It took him a minute to calm down to an extent that his stomach no longer felt like it was holding volatile vomit and that he wouldn’t cry. He had to just bite the bullet and go back in, he couldn’t just run away from his problems this time. Mostly because he needed this job so he’d have to work on a shift with Steve at some point. 

He nearly cried as he pushed the door open, the throwing up sensation immediately coming back. Pausing, he reaffirmed to himself that he had to do this and that he had no choice. The moment he stepped into the shop, his breath was knocked out of him. Steve was in the same place as before, looking very concerned while Nat was still sitting in her seat, one leg crossed over the other and a smirk planted on her face. He nearly told her to go fuck herself just out of sentiment.

“Hi,” he mumbled, looking directly at the floor. It was a very boring floor, Starbucks really needed to work on their floor décor. He also needed to work on not distracting himself with trivial things when met with important situations.

“Hey,” Steve murmured, his eyes transfixed on Bucky who was trying his hardest not to look at him but couldn’t help but glance up. Steve was very pretty and Bucky liked looking at pretty things. He also didn’t like facing his problems which is when he hit the wall. He was in a bit of a conundrum.

“I think I’ll leave you boys alone for a few minutes,” Nat declared, smirking at Bucky and sashaying out of the shop like the wind. There was something absolutely terrifying about Natasha Romanoff which Bucky couldn’t quite pinpoint. He hoped she wasn’t an assassin like Clint had decided the second time they met. The first time had included Clint declaring his love for her hair drunkenly. It had been very entertaining.

“So,” Steve started before whistling awkwardly, “You know, if you’re going to ask someone out, it’s probably a good idea to do it in their language and not Russian?”

Bucky’s heart stopped. That remotely sounded like flirting. Fuck, was Steve flirting? Did he completely misread the situation? Fuck. 

“Yeah, I’m just full of bright ideas,” Bucky muttered, not knowing what to say at all. He didn’t trust his readings of the situation now, completely unsure if Steve was straight or not, let alone if he liked Bucky. Fuck, he’d really fucked this up.

“Fuck this,” Steve mumbled before stepping forward and pressing his lips to Bucky. Shit, he actually was in a John Hughes movie. Staying true to the cliché, Bucky took a few seconds to even process the situation before he kissed back with more energy than he’d done anything for a long time. It felt so nice kissing Steve, everything just molded together perfectly. Fuck, he wanted to kiss Steve forever, he wanted to do nothing but that.

They split apart to catch their breath, both panting heavily. “So,” Bucky giggled softly, “I was completely off with the whole straight thing,” he murmured softly, trying not to glance to Steve’s lips. He really wanted to kiss him again. He compromised by focusing on Steve’s ocean blue eyes, they were so pretty.

“You think so?” Steve retorted sarcastically, raising his eyebrows at Bucky, “I’ve wanted to kiss you for about five months now, you speaking Russian is unbelievably hot and I literally spent an entire day staring at your ass to see if you’d notice, I’d say I’m not straight,” he added, smirking when he saw the shock on Bucky’s face. He had no idea how to respond to that either.

“So we’ve concluded I’m a complete idiot?” he questioned after a few moments of thought, deliberately licking his lips while considering. The slight whine from Steve was enough to tell him it was a good idea.

“Yes,” Steve breathed, turning his glance to Bucky’s lips again. It wasn’t fair, why did Steve have to be so goddamn beautiful? He was basically a Greek God came to life.

“Good,” Bucky noted breathily, glancing to Steve’s lips, “Can I kiss you again now?” he asked, biting his lip while waiting for an answer.

“If you’re going to bite your lip again, you better fucking kiss me now,” Steve murmured, waiting for Bucky to step forward and capture his lips before wrapping his arms around Bucky’s waist. Bucky deepened the kiss, wrapping his own arms around Steve’s neck. He felt like he was floating, god, kissing Steve was just dreamy.

“We waited too long to do this,” he mumbled against Steve’s lips.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! :)
> 
>  
> 
> come scream with me on [tumblr](https://island-of-asteria.tumblr.com/)


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